David Coburnhttp://www.desmogblog.com/taxonomy/term/14480/all
enEmails: How State Department Secretly Approved Expanding Piece of Enbridge's "Keystone XL Clone"http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/04/20/emails-state-department-secretly-approved-expansion-enbridge-keystone-xl-clone
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/Approval%20Document.png?itok=7quY5zBf" width="200" height="118" alt="State Department Enbridge Emails" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>DeSmogBlog has obtained dozens of emails that lend an inside view of how the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> State Department secretly handed <a href="http://desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/4389">Enbridge</a> a permit to expand the capacity of its U.S.-Canada border-crossing <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/12487">Alberta Clipper</a> pipeline, which carries <a href="http://desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a> diluted bitumen (“<a href="http://desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/6950">dilbit</a>”) from Alberta to midwest markets. </p>
<p>The State Department submitted the emails into the record in the ongoing <a href="http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/energy/dirty_energy_development/oil_shale_and_tar_sands/pdfs/Alberta_Clipper_complaint.pdf">case filed against the Department by the Sierra Club and other environmental groups</a> in the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> District Court for the District of Minnesota. Collectively, the emails show that upper-level State Department officials hastened the review process on behalf of Enbridge for its proposed <a href="http://www.enbridge.com/MainlineEnhancementProgram/Canada/Alberta-Clipper-Capacity-Expansion.aspx">Alberta Clipper expansion plan, now rebranded Line 67</a>, and did not inform the public about it until it published its <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2014-19538.pdf">final approval decision in the Federal Register</a> in August 2014.</p>
<p>According to a <a href="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Enbridge%20Line%2067%20Administrative%20Record.pdf">March 17, 2014 memo initially marked “confidential,”</a> Enbridge's legal counsel at <a href="http://www.steptoe.com/professionals-David_Coburn.html">Steptoe <span class="amp">&amp;</span> Johnson, David Coburn</a>, began regular communications with the State Department on what the environmental groups have dubbed an “illegal scheme” beginning in at least January 2014. </p>
<p><a href="desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Enbridge Line 67 Administrative Record.pdf"><img alt="Enbridge State Department Emails" src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Screen%20Shot%202015-04-17%20at%205.43.58%20PM.png" style="width: 560px; height: 274px;" /></a><br /><em style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em; font-size: 11px;">Image Credit: <a href="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Enbridge%20Line%2067%20Administrative%20Record.pdf"><span class="caps">U.S.</span> District Court for the District of Minnesota</a></em></p>
<p>Environmental groups have coined the approval process an “illegal scheme” because the State Department allowed Enbridge to usurp the conventional <a href="http://www.state.gov/p/wha/rt/permit/">presidential permit process for cross-border pipelines</a>, as well as the standard National Environmental Policy Act (<span class="caps">NEPA</span>) process, which allows for public comments and public hearings of the sort seen for TransCanada's <a href="http://desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span></a> pipeline.</p>
<p>Further, the scheme is a complex one involving Enbridge's choice to add pressure pump stations on both sides of the border to two pipelines, <a href="http://desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/19340">Enbridge Line 3</a> and <a href="http://desmogblog.com/taxonomy/term/16936/all">Enbridge Line 67</a>, to avoid fitting under the legal umbrella of a “cross-border” pipeline.</p>
<p>Hastening the approval process — and thus dodging both the conventional presidential permit and <span class="caps">NEPA</span> process — came up in a June 6, 2014 memo written by Coburn and his Steptoe co-counsel <a href="http://www.steptoe.com/professionals-Joshua_Runyan.html">Josh Runyan</a>. Enbridge's legal argument centered around ensuring profits for its customers “consistent with its obligations as a common carrier.”</p>
<p><a href="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Enbridge Line 67 Administrative Record 2.pdf"><img alt="State Department Enbridge Emails" src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Screen%20Shot%202015-04-17%20at%206.01.50%20PM.png" style="width: 560px; height: 140px;" /></a><br /><em style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em; font-size: 11px;">Image Credit: <a href="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Enbridge%20Line%2067%20Administrative%20Record%202.pdf"><span class="caps">U.S.</span> District Court for the District of Minnesota</a></em></p>
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<h3>
“Wrap This Up…Running Out of Time”</h3>
<p>On March 18, 2014, Ona Hahs, Attorney-Advisor for the State Department's Office of the Legal Advisor, informed her Department colleagues in an email that “we have to wrap this up” because she was informed by Coburn that Enbridge was moving forward with the project and about to break ground on it. </p>
<p><a href="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Enbridge Line 67 Administrative Record.pdf"><img alt="State Department Enbridge Emails" src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Screen%20Shot%202015-04-17%20at%206.39.47%20PM.png" style="width: 560px; height: 196px;" /></a><br /><em style="font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">Image Credit: <a href="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Enbridge Line 67 Administrative Record.pdf"><span class="caps">U.S.</span> District Court for the District of Minnesota</a> </em></p>
<p>Just over a week later on March 27, 2014, Hahs emailed her colleagues again, informing them that Coburn had just called her again and they were “running out of time” to offer Enbridge what it requested. </p>
<p><a href="desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Enbridge Line 67 Administrative Record.pdf"><img alt="State Department Enbridge Emails" src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Screen%20Shot%202015-04-17%20at%206.49.35%20PM.png" style="width: 560px; height: 436px;" /></a><br /><em style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em; font-size: 11px;">Image Credit: <a href="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Enbridge Line 67 Administrative Record.pdf"><span class="caps">U.S.</span> District Court for the District of Minnesota</a></em></p>
<p>A month later, <a href="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Robert%20Cekuta%20_%20LinkedIn.pdf">Robert Cekuta</a> — then D<span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">eputy Assistant Secretary of State for the <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/09/hillary-clinton-fracking-shale-state-department-chevron">State Department's powerful and industry-friendly Bureau of Energy Resources</a> (<span class="caps">BER</span>) and now <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Ambassador to <a href="http://www.gregpalast.com/bp-coverup-they-knew/">oil-soaked Azerbaijan</a> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">— wrote a memo on April 24, 2014 to former <span class="caps">BER</span> head Carlos Pascual recommending approval of the “illegal scheme.” </span></p>
<p><a href="http://energypolicy.columbia.edu/ambassador-carlos-pascual">Pascual now serves as a non-resident Fellow</a> at the <a href="http://energypolicy.columbia.edu/">Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy</a>, which many suspect is funded by the oil and gas industry, but the Center does not disclose its funding sources. Pascual signed his “<span class="caps">CP</span>” initials on the “approve” line, meaning Enbridge's project had the State Department seal of approval.</p>
<p><a href="desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Enbridge Line 67 Administrative Record.pdf"><img alt="State Department Enbridge Emails" src="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Screen%20Shot%202015-04-17%20at%207.05.11%20PM.png" style="width: 560px; height: 331px;" /></a><br /><em style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em; font-size: 11px;">Image Credit: <a href="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Enbridge Line 67 Administrative Record.pdf"><span class="caps">U.S.</span> District Court for the District of Minnesota</a></em></p>
<p>Though officially written by Cekuta, the bottom of the memo indicates it was drafted by both Hahs and Michael Brennan. Before serving in various capacities for the State Department beginning in 2003, <a href="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Michael%20Brennan%20_%20LinkedIn.pdf">Brennan worked for Shell Oil</a> as its Manager for Export Sales Business Development in Asia and Latin America, according to his LinkedIn profile. </p>
<p><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">Later that same day, Brennan fired an email off to Coburn informing him of the State Department approval decision.</span></p>
<h3>
“Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> Clone” Precedent Cited</h3>
<p>In the June 6 memo penned by Enbridge's counsel, its attorneys explained why “interconnections on Line 67 can take place in advance of the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Department of State’s issuance of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement ('<span class="caps">SEIS</span>') and the requested Presidential Permit to authorize Enbridge to operate the border segment of Line 67 at its design capacity of 880,000 barrels per day.”</p>
<p>Among the myriad legal cases cited in the memo, Coburn and Runyan pointed to the <em>Sierra Club, et al v. <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Army Corps of Engineers</em> case <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2013/11/22/US-court-denies-halt-pipeline-set-replace-keystone-xl-northern-half">reported</a> on <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/08/19/key-environmental-law-doesnt-apply-enbridge-flanagan-south-keystone-xl-clone">by DeSmogBlog</a>, which Enbridge argued and won as a defendant. </p>
<p>Coburn and Runyan wrote that the <em style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">Sierra Club v. Army Corps of Engineers </em>case rejects the legal “<span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">argument that construction of pipeline outside the area of federal permitting jurisdiction could be [prohibited] pending <span class="caps">NEPA</span> review.”</span></p>
<p><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">“</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">Because construction of the pump stations and interconnections are not occurring within the border segment of Line 67, and are independent from the Line 67 border capacity expansion…this activity is not required to await the completion of the <span class="caps">SEIS</span>,” they wrote.</span></p>
<p>That case, like the current one, centered around <span class="caps">NEPA</span>.</p>
<p>In that one, the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Army Corps of Engineers handed Enbridge a controversial <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/14049">Nationwide Permit 12</a> permit to build its now-operational <a href="http://desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/14481">Flanagan South</a> pipeline, which Sierra Club argued circumvented the <span class="caps">NEPA</span> process. It appears that case set an important legal precedent. </p>
<p>Flanagan South connects to Alberta Clipper in Flanagan, Illinois and ends in Cushing, Oklahoma via a connection to the <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/16951">Seaway Twin</a> pipeline, which Enbridge co-owns with <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/16942">Enterprise Products Partners</a>. From there, the heavy tar sands dilbit is taken to Gulf coast refineries, the same ones <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Pipeline">TransCanada's Keystone pipeline system</a> currently feeds into.</p>
<p>Together, all three pipeline pieces make up what DeSmogBlog has called the “<a href="http://desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/17587">Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> Clone</a>” pipeline system.</p>
<h3>
“Stand Down”</h3>
<p>Asked about the emails, <a href="https://content.sierraclub.org/environmentallaw/profile/staff/doug-hayes-staff-attorney">Doug Hayes, the Sierra Club attorney</a> working on the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> District Court of Minnesota case, wrote in an email to DeSmogBlog that he thinks the State Department is essentially partaking in a dereliction of duty. </p>
<p>“There is absolutely no question that the State Department has the authority to tell Enbridge to stand down and follow the process that was always intended,” wrote Hayes. “The State Department is just not taking its presidential permitting responsibilities seriously and letting Enbridge call the shots.”</p>
<p>Neither representatives from Enbridge, the Steptoe <span class="amp">&amp;</span> Johnson attorneys nor the State Department officials involved in the behind-the-scenes permitting of the “illegal scheme” responded to requests for comment sent by DeSmogBlog.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/September%2010%20Hearing%20on%20Motion%20for%20Summary%20Judgment%20.pdf">hearing is scheduled for September 10</a> at the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota for the <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Memo%20in%20Support%20of%20Summary%20Judgment.pdf">environmental groups' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment</a>, which was submitted on April 6.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:11px;"><em>Image Credit: <a href="http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Enbridge Line 67 Administrative Record.pdf"><span class="caps">U.S.</span> District Court for the District of Minnesota</a></em></span></p>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20399">Presidential Permit</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20410">Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/19546">State Department Bureau of Energy Resources</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20411">Michael F. Brennan</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14049">Nationwide Permit 12</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/16942">Enterprise Products Partners</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/16939">Flanagan</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1209">Illinois</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20412">Flanagan Illinois</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20413">Flanagan IL</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20414">Cushing OK</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8201">Cushing</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5863">oklahoma</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20415">Cushing Oklahoma</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20409">Robert Cekuta</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7734">Azerbaijan</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20416">Sierra Club v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/12984">Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7192">Environmental Impact statement</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8672">NEPA</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20417">Michael Brennan</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20407">Josh Runyan</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20408">Joshua Runyan</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5869">National Environmental Policy Act</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20418">Ona M. Hahs</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20401">Ona Hahs</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6404">Law</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10100">Legal</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9000">litigation</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/lawsuit">lawsuit</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5790">lawsuits</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/666">Sierra Club</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14487">Doug Hayes</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4389">Enbridge</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/oil-sands">oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6950">dilbit</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5538">bitumen</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14480">David Coburn</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20402">Steptoe &amp; Johnson</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20403">Steptoe and Johnson</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20404">United States District Court for the District of Minnesota</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20405">U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/16937">Enbridge Alberta Clipper</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/19340">Enbridge Line 3</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/16936">Enbridge Line 67</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/17587">Keystone XL Clone</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/20406">U.S. District Court Tar Sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5573">State Department</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone XL</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8276">kxl</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7592">nokxl</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5420">TransCanada</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/canada">canada</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1165">Alberta</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/16255">Heavy Oil</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/16254">Heavy Crude</a></div></div></div>Mon, 20 Apr 2015 10:58:00 +0000Steve Horn9325 at http://www.desmogblog.comUS Court Denies Halt on Pipeline Set to Replace Keystone XL Northern Halfhttp://www.desmogblog.com/2013/11/22/US-court-denies-halt-pipeline-set-replace-keystone-xl-northern-half
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/shutterstock_97990418_0_0.jpg?itok=iWJLuayg" width="200" height="302" alt="Flanagan south, keystone xl pipeline" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The ever-wise Yogi Berra once quipped “It's like déjà vu all over again,” a truism applicable to a recent huge decision handed down by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/11/14/208584/court-declines-to-block-big-oil.html">A story covered only by <em>McClatchy News</em>' Michael Doyle</a>, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Order%20Denying%20PI.pdf">shot down Sierra Club and National Wildlife Federation's (<span class="caps">NWF</span>) request for an immediate injunction</a> in constructing <a href="http://www.enbridge.com/FlanaganSouthPipeline.aspx">Enbridge's Flanagan South tar sands pipeline</a> in a 60-page ruling.</p>
<p>That 600-mile long, 600,000 barrels per day proposed line runs from Flanagan, Illinois - located in the north central part of the state - down to <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/obama-sojourns-pipeline-crossroads-world-campaign-speech">Cushing, Oklahoma, dubbed the “pipeline crossroads of the world.”</a> <span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">The proposed </span><a href="http://keystone-xl.com/about/the-project/" style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">694-mile, 700,000 barrels per day</a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;"> proposed Transcanada Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> northern half also runs to Cushing from Alberta, Canada and requires <span class="caps">U.S.</span> State Department approval, along with President Barack Obama's approval. </span></p>
<p><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">Because Flanagan South is not a border-crossing line, it doesn't require the State Department or Obama's approval. If Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>'s northern half's permit is denied, Flanagan South - along with </span><a href="http://www.enbridge.com/MainlineEnhancementProgram/Canada/Alberta-Clipper-Capacity-Expansion.aspx" style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">Enbridge's proposal to expand</a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;"> its </span><a href="http://newenergyandfuel.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Alberta-Clipper-Crude-Pipeline-Route.gif" style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">Alberta Clipper</a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;"> pipeline, </span><a href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/aug/128164.htm" style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">approved by Obama's State Department during Congress' recess in August 2009</a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;"> - would make up that half of the pipeline's capacity and then some. </span></p>
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<p>At issue in the District Court was the legality of the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Army Corps of Engineers issuing a <a href="http://www.usace.army.mil/Portals/2/docs/civilworks/nwp/2012/NWP_12_2012.pdf">Nationwide Permit 12</a> to shove through the Flanagan South (much<span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2013/10/13/us-court-keystone-xl-profits-more-important-than-environment" style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">like the Appeals Court case covered here on <em>DeSmogBlog</em></a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;"> just weeks ago with Transcanada's Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>'s southern half, rebranded the “</span><a href="http://www.gulf-coast-pipeline.com/" style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">Gulf Coast Pipeline Project</a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">” by Transcanada). </span></p>
<p>Sierra Club and <span class="caps">NWF</span> argued for an injunction - or halt - in constructing and pumping tar sands through Flanagan South until the legality of issuing a Nationwide Permit 12 is decided, an issue still awaiting the decision of <a href="http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/dcd/kjackson">Judge Jackson</a>. Like the Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span> southern half case, Nationwide Permit 12 was used instead of going through the National Environmental Policy Act (<span class="caps">NEPA</span>).</p>
<p><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;"><span class="caps">NEPA</span> - unlike the fast-track Nationwide Permit 12 - <a href="http://www.epa.gov/reg3esd1/nepa/eis.htm#eis">requires the <span class="caps">EPA</span> to issue a full draft Environmental Impact Statement</a> and final Environmental Impact Statement, with 1-2 month public commenting periods following each Statement. <span class="caps">EPA</span> must take public comments into account when making its final judgments on pipeline projects.</span></p>
<p><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">Use of Nationwide Permit 12 has quickly become a “new normal” for fast-track approval of tar sands pipelines and other controversial domestic energy infrastructure projects. </span></p>
<h3>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">Corporate Profits vs. Environmental Harms</span></h3>
<p>Judge Jackson - <a href="http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/09/20/obama-nominates-woman-for-us-district-court-in-dc/">an Obama appointee</a> with a <a href="http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/nominations/112thCongressJudicialNominations/upload/Jackson-Senate-Questionnaire-Public-WD.pdf">legal background predominantly in corporate law</a> - boiled down the competing parties' arguments into a “harms” balancing test: Enbridge's corporate profits vs. irreparable environmental and ecological harms Enbridge's Flanagan South may cause.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://www.ussc.gov/About_the_Commission/Commissioner_Photos/Brown-Jackson.gif" style="width: 200px; height: 200px;" /></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8px;">Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson; Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.ussc.gov/About_the_Commission/About_the_Commissioners/Commissioner_Bios.cfm"><em>United States Sentencing Commission</em></a></span></p>
<p>She wasted little time getting to the point, issuing her judgment denying Sierra Club's and <span class="caps">NWF</span>'s injunction request by the second paragraph on the second page of the ruling. She then spent the next 58 pages giving in-depth legal justifications as to why.</p>
<p><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">“Plaintiffs have significantly overstated the breadth of federal involvement in the pipeline project and have failed to establish sufficiently that applicable federal statutes and regulations would require the extensive environmental review process that Plaintiffs seek,” Jackson wrote. “Moreover, Plaintiffs have fallen short of demonstrating that irreparable harm will result if the current construction proceeds during the pendency of this litigation, and the Court is not convinced that the balance of harms and public interest factors weigh in Plaintiffs’ favor.”</span></p>
<h3>
Flanagan Shrouded in Secrecy</h3>
<p>One of the major grievances of Sierra Club and <span class="caps">NWF</span> had - like Sierra Club had with the Army Corps of Engineers permitting for Keystone <span class="caps">XL</span>'s southern half - is that Nationwide Permit 12 generally deals with small projects deemed “single and complete,” usually half an acre in size or less.</p>
<p>“When constructed, the <span class="caps">FS</span> Pipeline will cross approximately 1,950 wetlands or waters under the jurisdiction of the Corps—an area that, as noted above, totals 13.68 miles,” Jackson explained in outlining the Plaintiffs' argument.</p>
<p>Thus, Enbridge received close to 2,000 Nationwide Permit 12's - all “single and complete projects” - despite the fact it is one single pipeline running from north central Illinois to Cushing, <span class="caps">OK</span>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Kansas%20City%20PCN%20FOIA_FINAL_051613.PDF">Sierra Club did a Freedom of Information Act request</a> to learn more about the scope and environmental impacts of Flanagan South, only to see its requests denied by the Army Corps of Engineers, <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Kansas%20City%20FOIA_Denial_062013%20%281%29.pdf">first initially</a> and then again after <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Kansas%20City%20PCN%20FOIA_Appeal_FINAL_062713.PDF">its appeal</a>. Even though Nationwide Permit 12 doesn't include public hearings and there were no public hearings for Flanagan South, Jackson argued to the contrary. </p>
<p>“Notably, general permits—including the nationwide permit at issue here— undergo a stringent pre-approval evaluation process that involves a comprehensive environmental assessment under <span class="caps">NEPA</span> and also public notice and comment,” she wrote.</p>
<p>Yet it's the very lack of a public commenting period and lack of a “comprehensive” environmental assessment that's at the crux of this legal challenge by Sierra Club and <span class="caps">NWF</span> to begin with. From day one, <a href="http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2013/07/08/enbridges-keystone-xl-competitor-has-a-permit-controversy-of-its-own/">Flanagan South has been shrouded in secrecy</a>.</p>
<p>“This project hasn't been on the public radar because it was permitted behind closed doors without any public notice or process,” explained Sierra Club attorney Doug Hayes in an interview with <em>DeSmogBlog</em>. “Even our repeated <span class="caps">FOIA</span> requests for information about the project's impacts were denied.”</p>
<p>“Most people we've talked to along the route have been shocked to learn that a tar sands pipeline is being built in their backyards and there was no <span class="caps">NEPA</span> process at all. No agency held any public hearings nor allowed public comment.”</p>
<h3>
Jackson Admits Fast-Track Name of Game</h3>
<p>Even Judge Jackson admitted the whole point of Nationwide Permit 12 is to fast-track construction of pipelines and other related projects, thus contradicting her earlier claims of the review for Flanagan South being “comprehensive.”</p>
<p>“The purpose of the statute that authorizes general permits such as the nationwide permit at issue here is to allow the Corps to designate certain construction projects…with little, if any, delay or paperwork,” Jackson wrote.</p>
<p>“In other words, the requisite comprehensive environmental review is done upfront under the general permitting system precisely to avoid a <span class="caps">NEPA</span> environmental review regarding certain projects that fit into categories of activity that have been predetermined to have minimal environmental impact. Therefore, once the Corps’s district engineers verified that the discharges resulting from the <span class="caps">FS</span> Pipeline satisfied <span class="caps">NWP</span> 12, no additional environmental review was required.”</p>
<h3>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">Jackson: “No Ultimate Environmental Effect”</span></h3>
<p><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">Jackson made it crystal clear how seriously she takes the potential ecological impacts of Flanagan South: not seriously at all. She went so far as to call the environmental worries of Sierra Club and <span class="caps">NWF</span> “bald allegations,” reducing plaintiffs' environmental worries to fear of harm to “</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">flora and fauna.”</span></p>
<p>“[N]otwithstanding Plaintiffs’ bald allegations of concrete injury to flora and fauna, the record does not clearly establish that the <span class="caps">FS</span> Pipeline construction will have a significant or substantial impact on the wildlife in the pipeline’s path,” opined Jackson.</p>
<p>“[T]he environmental impact of the pipeline construction may be minimal, and the Corps has already verified that the seemingly troublesome water crossings will have little or no ultimate environmental effect…It is also apparent that Plaintiffs have significantly overstated the certainty and imminence of some of the injuries they predict.”</p>
<p>Comparisons to other major tar sands pipeline spills - such as <a href="http://insideclimatenews.org/special-focus-topics/dilbit-disaster">Enbridge's “dilbit disaster” spill</a> into Michigan's Kalamazoo River, the recent <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2013/04/01/everything-you-need-know-about-exxon-pegasus-tar-sands-spill">ExxonMobil Mayflower, Arkansas spill</a> and the <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2013/11/12/new-investigative-report-reveals-dents-holes-keystone-xl-south-half">12 Transcanada original Keystone tar sands pipeline spills</a> - all went unmentioned in Jackson's ruling.</p>
<p>“The Court acknowledges and accepts that some of the people who live in areas near the pipeline project are sincerely worried about the harm that an oil spill might cause,” she wrote. “As genuine as these concerns may be, Plaintiffs have not shown that a damaging oil spill is likely to occur…In other words, the harms that an oil spill might potentially someday cause—however fearsome—are not certain…”</p>
<p>Judge Johnson's argument flies in the face of the lived existence of one of Enbridge's <a href="http://www.steptoe.com/">Steptoe <span class="amp">&amp;</span> Johnson</a> attorneys for the case, <a href="http://www.steptoe.com/professionals-David_Coburn.html">David Coburn</a>. He also serves as <a href="http://media.mlive.com/kzgazette_impact/other/130808%20Delta%20Dredge%20Status%20Letter.pdf">legal counsel to Enbridge for its clean-up efforts in Michigan</a>, the largest domestic tar sands spill in <span class="caps">U.S.</span> history.</p>
<h3>
Ruling: Corporate Profits Sacrosanct</h3>
<p>After spending 55 pages trashing the Sierra Club/<span class="caps">NWF</span> legal arguments and dismissing potential environmental impacts of Flanagan South out-of-hand, Jackson then applies the corporate bottom line vs. environmental harms balancing test.</p>
<p>“In the Court’s view, Enbridge…[has] the better of these arguments,” wrote Jackson. “With respect to the balance of harms, the record as it currently stands shows that Enbridge has committed major resources to the <span class="caps">FS</span> Pipeline project over the last 18 months, including engaging in an intensive effort to comply with the myriad state and federal environmental regulations that the pipeline project implicates. The evidence of the time and effort that Enbridge has already put in to the project lends credence to Enbridge’s argument that it will suffer harm if the pipeline is indefinitely delayed.”</p>
<p>Jackson then scoffs at the environmental harms caused by the pipeline, not even once mentioning climate change.</p>
<p>“Plaintiffs, by contrast, have failed to demonstrate the harms that they allege with specificity in regard to the <span class="caps">FS</span> Pipeline in particular, relying instead on general harms they have identified by analogizing this project to other pipelines,” she wrote. “While the Court is aware of the potential negative environmental consequences that can accrue from the construction and operation of a large oil pipeline, it is also hesitant to weigh these possibilities too heavily without more evidence linking them to this particular pipeline project.”</p>
<h3>
What's Next?</h3>
<p>Sierra Club and <span class="caps">NWF</span> have both yet to decide if they will appeal this injunction ruling while they await a ruling on the legal merits of their Nationwide Permit 12 challenge. If they do appeal it, the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia - often referred to as the “<span class="caps">DC</span> Circuit” - will hear the case. </p>
<p>“We are disappointed with the ruling,” remarked Hayes. “According to the government's position, no oil pipeline would ever have to undergo an environmental analysis in the United States, no matter how dangerous the project or how many federal agencies are involved.”</p>
<p><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">Debra Michaud - an activist with <a href="http://www.tarsandsfreemidwest.org/">Tar Sands Free Midwest</a>, a grassroots group developing a campaign to fend off Flanagan South - says this decision will only further embolden area activists moving forward.</span></p>
<p><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; line-height: 1.5em;">“We are outraged. This decision, with its nationwide implications, sets a dangerous precedent and legal justification to ram pipeline projects through without any regard for landowner rights and environmental regulations,” she said. “Activists in the Chicago area are calling for a nationwide campaign to fight this egregious abuse of power.”</span></p>
<p><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; font-size: 8px; line-height: 1.5em;">Photo Credit: </span><a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-419500p1.html" style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; font-size: 8px; line-height: 1.5em;">tankist276</a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; font-size: 8px; line-height: 1.5em;"> | </span><a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-97990418/stock-photo-venality-businessman-or-banker-in-black-costume-throw-open-one-s-shirt-packed-heap-dollars.html?src=csl_recent_image-2" style="letter-spacing: 0.03em; font-size: 8px; line-height: 1.5em;"><em>ShutterStock</em></a></p>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4389">Enbridge</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14480">David Coburn</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14481">Flanagan South</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2176">foia</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14482">Cynthia Taub</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14483">Steptoe and Johnson LLP</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5578">Freedom of Information Act</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14484">McClatchy News</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14485">Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6950">dilbit</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5538">bitumen</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14486">Michael Doyle</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14049">Nationwide Permit 12</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5844">US Army Corps of Engineers</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/666">Sierra Club</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14487">Doug Hayes</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14503">Environmental Policy Agency</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/epa">EPA</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14488">National Environmental Protection Act</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8672">NEPA</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/oil-sands">oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5420">TransCanada</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5857">Keystone XL</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14265">Gulf Coast Pipeline</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14489">United States District Court for the District of Columbia</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4132">National Wildlife Federation</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14490">NWF</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14491">Injunction</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14352">Keystone XL Northern Half</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/12793">Keystone XL Southern Half</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/14492">U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia</a></div></div></div>Fri, 22 Nov 2013 20:37:33 +0000Steve Horn7644 at http://www.desmogblog.com